Bird flu detected in raw milk in US. Here's what you need to know and what you should do

California health officials announced Sunday that bird flu was detected in a retail sample of raw milk. The contaminated milk was from Raw Farm, a Fresno dairy. Santa Clara County health officers discovered the virus during routine testing on November 21.

The affected product is Raw Farm's cream top, whole raw milk with a best buy date of November 27. The dairy has issued a voluntary recall for this specific batch.

This incident follows another recent bird flu case in California involving a child – the first reported instance in a U.S. minor. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the child experienced mild symptoms, received antiviral treatment, and is recovering.


The CDC reports at least 55 U.S. bird flu cases this year, including 29 in California, mostly among farmworkers with mild symptoms. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has been circulating among wild birds, poultry, and other animals in recent years. It began affecting U.S. dairy cattle in March. California has become the epicenter of the dairy outbreak, with 402 infected herds identified since August.

What should you do
The California Department of Public Health has advised onsumers to immediately return any remaining product to the store where it was purchased.
However, the department confirmed that pasteurized milk is still safe to consume.


According to the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), pasteurization kills harmful bacteria and viruses by heating milk to a specific temperature over time. Even if HPAI virus is detected in raw milk, the current pasteurization process (HTST – High temperature, short time) will inactivate HPAI virus.

However, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has warned that 'drinking raw milk may pose a risk of transmission (of bird flu virus) to people'.

It says that in 30 states in the U.S. the sale of raw dairy milk is allowed in some form. The agency, however, said that "heating milk in ways similar to pasteurization significantly reduced levels of the virus".